The Westminster Abbey website notes that the present building dates from King Henry III's reign (1216-1272). He ordered the east section of the Abbey that Edward the Confessor founded be pulled down and a shrine to Edward be built.

On Oct. 13, 1269, Edward the Confessor's remains were moved to the new shrine. The radiating chapels, transepts, apse and choir were already complete.

The Lady Chapel was started in 1503 by Henry VII and completed after his death. It replaced the 13th century chapel.

Sir Isaac Newton is one of the prominent people buried at Westminster Abbey.

In addition to describing universal gravitation and the three laws of motion, he was a master of the Royal Mint and the Lucasian Chair of Mathematics at Trinity College. He died on March 20, 1727, and was buried at the Abbey on March 28.

Photo: Queen Elizabeth II lays a wreath on the tomb of Sir Isaac Newton during the annual Commonwealth Day Observance Service at Westminster Abbey in London, on March 8, 2010.

Westminster Abbey's full name is the Collegiate Church of St. Peter at Westminster. It was established by Elizabeth I in 1560. It is also a royal peculiar; it falls under the jurisdiction of the monarch instead of a bishop.

The last monarch interned at the Abbey is George II. According to Westminster Abbey's official website, a "lack of space for royal monuments and burials meant that subsequent monarchs were buried at Windsor."

Photo: The tomb of Queen Elizabeth I Westminster Abbey on Nov. 7, 2008, in London.

Composer George Frideric Handel died April 14, 1759. He wrote the Coronation Anthems for the crowning of George II in 1727. "Zadok the Priest," the most famous of the anthems, has been sung at every coronation since.

Photo: A statue of composer George Frideric Handel sits above Poets' Corner, Westminster Abbey on April 8, 2009, in London.

George VI had his coronation at Westminster Abbey on May 12, 1937. His brother, Edward VIII (later HRH the Duke of Windsor) abdicated, and George's coronation took place on the day set aside for what would have been Edward's.

Photo: From left, King George VI, Princess Margaret, Princess Elizabeth (later Queen Elizabeth II) and Queen Elizabeth (later known as the Queen Mother), June 1, 1937.

The newlywed Princess Margaret, the younger sister of Queen Elizabeth II, leaves hand-in-hand with her husband, Antony Armstrong-Jones, from Westminster Abbey on their wedding day May 6, 1960. They divorced in 1978.

Prince William and Prince Harry's mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, died in a car accident on Aug. 31, 1997, in Paris. Her funeral was held at Westminster Abbey. She's buried at her family home at Althorp.

Photo: The coffin of Diana, Princess of Wales, is carried into Westminster Abbey by the bearer party of Welsh Guardsmen for her funeral, Sept. 6, 1997, followed, from left to right, by Charles, the Prince of Wales, Prince Harry, Diana's brother, the Earl Spencer, Prince William and the Duke of Edinburgh.

Queen Elizabeth II's mother, Queen Elizabeth (more often known as the Queen Mother), is buried at Windsor Castle next to her husband, George VI, and daughter, Princess Margaret, but her funeral was held at Westminster Abbey at her request.

Photo: The Queen Mother's coffin arrives at Westminster Abbey for the funeral service, April 9, 2002. The funeral is the culmination of more than a week of mourning for the royal matriarch, who died on March 30 at the age of 101.